SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's volleyball team jumped out to an early lead against UC Santa Barbara on Friday night at The Thunderdome, winning the first two sets before the Gauchos came together and completed the reverse sweep to take the non-conference victory.
After 25-17 and 25-20 first and second set wins for the Waves (4-7), the Gauchos (10-1) won the final three sets 25-23, 25-20 and 15-12 for the overall victory.
Hannah Frohling and
Shannon Scully amassed double-doubles for the Waves with a 15-10 kill-dig and 12-16 kill-dig performance for their team.
BIG WAVES
Hannah Frohling (Edmond, Okla./Edmond North HS): 15 kills, 10 digs, 2 block solos, 2 aces
Rachel Ahrens (Trabuco Canyon, Calif./Tesoro HS): 12 kills, 3 digs, 1 ace
Shannon Scully (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS/Utah): 12 kills, 2 blocks, 16 digs
Tarah Wylie (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral HS): 10 kills, 3 blocks, 1 ace
Tayah Mahi (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls HS): 36 assists, 3 digs, 2 blocks, 1 kill
Hana Lishman (Kailua, Hawai'i/Punahou School): 16 digs, 5 assists
Isabel Zelaya (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS): 14 assists, 5 digs
Alli O'Harra (Boise, Idaho/Centennial HS): 9 kills, .318 hitting % 1 block
Madison Shields (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS): 6 digs, 1 assist
WAVES VS. GAUCHOS
Pepperdine started out swinging well, leading in attack output in the first three sets, though a late surge of blocking success propelled UC Santa Barbara late in the action. Pepperdine ended with 59 kills on a .207 output, with 65 digs, 5.0 team blocks and five aces. The opposition marked 63 kills on a .202 success rate, with 67 digs, 12.0 team blocks and three aces.
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 11 7 37 .108
2 11 4 32 .219
3 15 5 37 .270
4 14 6 38 .211
5 8 3 20 .250
TTL 59 25 164 .207
UC SANTA BARBARA ATTACK BY SET
Set K E TA Pct
1 8 6 38 .053
2 13 10 39 .077
3 14 6 35 .229
4 18 5 32 .406
5 10 3 19 .368
TTL 63 30 163 .202
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Each side started early, reaching the 5-5 mark before Pepperdine pulled ahead with aces from
Rachel Ahrens and
Hannah Frohling. The Waves then went on a 7-1 run with another ace from
Tarah Wylie and multiple kills from Wylie and
Shannon Scully. Pepperdine continued with a big attack, along with capitalizing on Gauchos' errors, en route to a 22-16 advantage late in the set. With a lead that size, the opposition was unable to close the gap and the Waves came away with the 25-17 first set win.
The momentum continued in the second set for Pepperdine, as the team went point-for-point against UCSB towards a 7-7 tie. After the Gauchos pulled ahead marginally at 13-9, the Waves worked back towards a 14-14 tied score. The two teams exchanged points, but after a 20-20 tie, four separate errors from across the net and an Ahrens smash closed the set 25-20 with a Waves win.
Although Pepperdine had the two-set advantage, UC Santa Barbara came out strong in the third, staying close throughout. The scores on both sides were close throughout, but after an 18-18 tied score, the Gauchos pulled ahead by two. The Waves came within one three more times, but the opposition was able to close the set 25-23 and force a fourth.
In the fourth, the Gauchos pulled ahead quickly, amassing a 14-8 lead before the Waves started to inch back in. Pepperdine would only come within a three-point deficit at any time, however, and UCSB ended the set with a 25-20 set win to extend the match to the fifth and final set.
The final set was extremely close throughout, with Pepperdine taking the switch with an 8-7 lead. The home team took control shortly after, though, and ended the match with a 15-12 set win and 3-2 overall victory.
NEXT UP
Pepperdine returns home next week to host San Francisco on Thursday in the West Coast Conference opener in Firestone on Thursday, September 26.
Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter, @WavesVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @peppvolley. Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on
www.PepperdineWaves.com.
